Missouri, 1996

Tornado in Missouri, April 19, 1996

April 19, 1996 · NWS PAH · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The tornado destroyed numerous barns, damaged several houses, and uprooted hundreds of trees. At one farmstead, the tornado lifted a 40-foot section of a 1 by 2 foot concrete base that had been under a wooden barn.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$300,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS PAH wrote it up.

The tornado destroyed numerous barns, damaged several houses, and uprooted hundreds of trees. At one farmstead, the tornado lifted a 40-foot section of a 1 by 2 foot concrete base that had been under a wooden barn. Farm equipment such as tractors and hay balers were damaged. Large grain bins and other items were blown over a hundred feet. 18 utility poles were destroyed, knocking out power for 12 to 18 hours. A portion of U.S. Highway 60 was closed for several hours because of debris in the road.

The radar

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 159 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:03 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Butler

When
April 19, 9:05 PM CST to 9:09 PM CST
Where
Butler County, Poplar Bluff to 8 mi WNW of Poplar Bluff
Rating
F2
Path length
2.5 mi
Path width
75 yd
Property damage
$300,000
Coordinates
36.800, -90.530

What these are

Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Missouri in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Missouri, 1996Warnings in Missouri, April 1996

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5543202.